Cornwall coping with emerald ash borer invasion

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Jan. 13, 2016
By Lois Ann Baker

Only four residents turned out to hear about the city's fight against the emerald ash borer on Wednesday.

Scott Porter, parks and landscaping municipal arborist supervisor, held an open house on Wednesday night at the Benson Centre to inform the public about steps being taken by the city to combat this pest.

Porter said the whole city is infested with the borer and a management plan is already in place to replace the trees infected.

"The management plan is not to preserve the ash, but to treat the ash with injections while we re-plant," said Porter. "We have approxiamately 30 to 35 per cent of ash trees in the city which is huge. So if we lose that all in the next couple of years, our tree canopy will be really low."

Porter said replacement is the key to saving our tree canopy and the city is looking at a number of different types of trees to replace the ash trees that need to be removed.

The plan is for every tree they need to take down, they will replace it with another of a different species.

"Unfortunately, you are taking down an 80-ft. tree and replacing it with a small sapling," he said. "But that is the plan and it's over a 15-year period."

Porter said the municipality could not afford to take every tree down at once.

"So over a period of 15 years, we are taking them down as they start to show signs."

Porter said if a tree is 30 to 35 per cent infected with the ash borer, it cannot be saved by the injections and needs to be removed, but those just lightly infected will undergo injections to slow the infestation. Injections are given to trees for two years, given a year off, and then injected again for two more years.

"We have about 36 different tree species we have on our list to replace the ash," he said.

Porter said residents can check out the city's website for their interactive maps and find their address. By hovering over one of the trees on municipal property, they can see the status of the tree and whether it is slated to be removed or injected. After a re-evaluation of ash trees in Cornwall, 468 trees were identified as being eligible for the injections.

"Originally, the plan was for about 1,500 trees, but the insect was so fast moving through town, we only have 468 trees," said Porter. But even those trees will be taken down over a period of time as the injections only slow the progress of the borer.

Another concern the city is aware of is the long-horn beetle which goes after any species of tree. It has been found in the Toronto area and is suspected to be in the Ottawa area.

"We will deal with what we have right now and, as it goes, this is another insect we are keeping an eye on, but we haven't seen it yet," said Porter.